Erin Hamilton and Jason Smith (both Accounting) recently had a paper published in Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory (AJPT) titled, "Explaining Away Intentional Misstatements: Do Management-Provided Excuses Decrease Auditor Skepticism?" AJPT is an A level journal on the Lee Business School journal list and the top journal for auditing-related research. The paper examines the type of explanations managers use in an attempt to “explain away” fraudulent behavior, finding that the type of explanation used most frequently — excuses (e.g., “I must have forgotten”) — can effectively reduce auditor skepticism. Their research was supported by an EY Faculty Fellowship at UNLV.